House committee rejects plan to allow raw milk sales

The Associated Press

5:19 PM, Mar 24, 2014

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A proposal to legalize raw milk sales in Maryland will have to wait until next year. The bill's sponsor has withdrawn it but plans to try again after Johns Hopkins University experts study the issue.

Del. James Hubbard's bill would have allowed cow-share programs, where a consumer buys part of a cow herd and receives unpasteurized milk.

Proponents say raw milk is more nutritious. But Maryland's Department of Legislative Services warned that Hubbard's bill might double the number of milk-borne disease outbreaks, up to as many as four a year.

Hubbard says the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health will give a report on the issue in December. He says he withdrew this year's bill because the House Health and Government Operations Committee clearly didn't plan to vote on it.

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